Craig Mitchell -- How to Live and Die in L.A. as a Met Fan

Being a Met fan is easy.  If you grow up on Long Island, It’s super easy.  In the 70’s, The Mets were popular and almost every road and home game was on free television, WOR-TV 9 (with Ralph, Bob and Lindsay) It was great. Most of the games were played during summer vacation.  My favorite time of the year was in July and August when the Mets traveled to the west coast. There was no school, so I could stay up and watch the Mets take on the Dodgers, Giants or Padres at 10:30 pm est.  It was summer, who cares if I was up till 1:30 in the morning. It was GREAT.

Shea Stadium was very close. By train, it was a ride on the LIRR to Woodside and then the 7 train right to Shea Stadium. By car it was almost as easy and about 20 minutes with no traffic. The first trips to Shea were with my Dad, or with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins.  I remember in the summer of 1975, I went to Shea via train with my friend Tom DeSantis and watched a double header. No chaperone needed. Shea was local, close and safe.  I really miss those days.  After I got my driver’s license I went to games at the last minute at will and whenever I had time. General Admission tickets ranged from $1.50 to $7.50 during that time (I believe.) Man, I miss those days more than you know.

I live in Los Angeles now. I have since 2001. I’m still a Met fan and thanks to innovations I still see just about every Met game so fandom continues.   Whether getting the MLB monthly ticket on satellite TV or on Cable I have always been able to catch the Mets. Now with the advent of MLB.TV I can watch both home and away feeds  on my big screen with Keith, Ron and Gary, anywhere! I’m not doing a commercial for these services, I’m just pointing out how today, I can live 3,000 miles away and still be the same rabid, daily fan I was when I was 18 miles from Shea.  But, there is just something missing.

I’m alone.  I am an fan on a Mets island to myself. Sure I go to games. I go to Dodger stadium at least every year and see the Mets play once or twice. I go to Petco and see them take on the Padres and I’ve been to Anaheim when they played the Angels.  It’s great to see the team and great to support them, but it’s rough to root for you team when they are visiting. It just is.

To be honest, the fans in San Diego and in Anaheim are pretty damn tolerant.  In 2008 I was in Petco and one of the field cameras focused on me and an unrelated lady sitting next to me. It went on the stadium diamond vision. She had her Padres hat on and she got some nice applause, I was in the shot, and I threw on my Met hat and gave a thumbs up and can honestly say it was the first and only time I heard a whole stadium boo me.  Such is the price of being a Met fan on the road.

In Anaheim the coolest thing is, the big A is actually very similar to Shea stadium. It’s been renovated but you can tell it’s cut out of the same jib, so it’s very nostalgic in many ways. Angel fans were very polite; I was there the same week that Willie Randolph was fired as Met manager in 2008, June 17^th 2008.  The fans were mostly pro Willie. I got a lot of conciliatory remarks when the Angel fans encountered me and my Met hat.  They knew his neck was on the line. The Angels beat the pants off of the Mets that day 6-1. Despite Willie’s awesome baseball wide reputation, he was toast.  I was there to see Willie’s last stand.

But, without a doubt, my closest venue is the most difficult. Dodger Stadium.  The Dodgers have a bunch of local; no nonsense fans that cut you ZERO slack.  I’ve seen the Mets get pounded there; I’ve seen them win there with ease. The two games that come to mind are my first game, and one of the more recent games.  On May 5^th 2002 I had 1^st baseline seats to see Jeff D’Amico blank the  Dodgers two nothing. D’Amico looked like the pickup of the year, going 9 allowing 2 hits and just walking 2 and striking out 8.  I even got to see Mo Vaughn club a home run. I was surrounded mostly by Dodger fans, but there was a smattering of Met fans that made the experience acceptable.   Then on June 29^th 2012, I went to the game with a Dodger fan/friend of mine Dave Griffin. Much to my delight, behind  Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey, the Mets beat up on the Dodges 9-0. By far my most satisfying game at Dodger Stadium.  I got to see 8 strong innings by Dickey as he struck out 10 and allowed just 3 hits.  He improved to 12-1.  I spent the time waiting for fireworks to begin, (Every Friday game in the summer was a fireworks night), in sweet afterglow with my FREE Dodgers snuggie.

Bracketed between those two experiences was an experience when I learned a very hard lesson. I got cocky and thought that I was free to express my fandom in any way I choose.  I was wrong.  I remember the game.  It was July 23^rd 2010. I had upper deck seats to see the Mets /Dodgers.  The Mets won 6-1.   It was Johan Santana vs. Vincente Padilla and his floater pitch.  Santana got his 8^th win and I got to see Ike Davis launch a titanic homer off Padilla’s floater to center. I was busting with pride.  Now, all that would have been fine, but as the picture shows, I went to the game with my friends Duane, Tyler and Joe dressed in my Mets jersey and Met hat.  Never, EVER dress in an opposing team colors in the upper decks of Dodger stadium.  Throughout most of the game I was pelted with popcorn, empty cups, NOT so empty cups of beer, coffee, soda, Ice cream, hot dogs, garlic fries…..you name it. I was enemy number one and the Mets winning just made it worse. One on trip to the men’s room I got so barraged with refuse that I was afraid to come back out. But I had no other shirt or t-shirt so I had to get pelted and barraged all the way back to my seats where my friends were supportive, but eventually moved to different seats to avoid getting hit with shrapnel.  Since then, I will not and have not worn my Met gear to a Dodger game. Now, I’m not saying I felt in danger of my safety, but it certainly wasn’t pleasant feeling peanuts and ice cream covered spoons bounce off my head as I’m trying to enjoy the game. Lesson learned. 

So, what I’m missing, I won’t feel again till I get my ass to Citi Field and see the Mets play with a bunch of fellow Met fans.  I miss that explosion of cheers when the Mets do something amazing. The flurry of random high fives to people in front of you haven’t said a word to all game but you celebrate together when the Mets take the lead or hit a three run homer.  In 2009, I was in New York in September, and I had tickets to a game at Shea.  It was the swan song month for Shea and the game was the night before I was flying back to Los Angeles. But sadly the game was rained out. I still have the tickets; they have to serve as my good bye to Shea. But I will be back someday. I know I will. I have a brick alongside Citi Field with my name and my Mother’s name on it.  That was a no brainer. I may be far away…but I’m right there.  And no matter how far away I move. I will ALWAYS be a Met fan in my heart.